Cellulosic composition of matter containing methyl anisate



Oct. 6, 1931. 5. J. CARROLL 1,825,692

CELLULOSIC COMPOSITION OF MATTER CONTAINING METHYL ANISATE Filed Aug. 50, 1929 gwuentoz ii wafc Earrmll possess thedesired'properties of a support for- Patented-Oct. 6, 1931 UNITED? OELLULOSIQ ooMrosItrIouon'fiirn rrnnl cc n M nnnmsim' 1 Application filedAugust 86,1929, Serial K 13814513. 7

Thisinvention relates to compositions of matter in 'whichcellulose derivatives, such as cellulose acetate, cellulose n trate or, cellulose ether, are combinedormined: with 5 other substancesf'such as ,a compatible plasticizer, and a common solvent for both, with or without other-useful addition agents, iso

that the resulting product will haveproperties such as Willmake the composition highly advantageous for use in the plastic and'analogous arts, such, for instance,-as, the manti facture of. Wrapping sheets', photographic film, artificial silk, varnishesgor lacque a d the like. L

flexible sheets or films of desired thinness which are substantially waterproo'fi areunaffected by ordinary photograph c ,flu ds and sensitive photographic coatings 7, Another object otmy invention is to produce a composition which is capable of easy andvconvenient manipulatio in thepla'stic and' analogous arts, such as in the manufacture. of sheets, films, artificial: silk filaments, varnishes,.lacquers and'the like and to produce a compositionwhich' will not injure,- orbs 7 *30 injured by, the substances or surfaceswith I which it is associated during manufacture, 1 W

storageoruse. -Other and further objects will hereinafter become apparent? to those I V M p I :It is compatible with cellulose derivatives and particularly compatable' with: cellulose :skilledfin theart to which this invention pertainsp. I

i-ng agents, such as the higher; alcohols :and their esters, aresometimes also added. 'Similarly ad'dition compoundsof various kinds have been employed to increase flexibility,

transparency, toughness 'and other properties the objectof this invention. is to QWhile cellulose acetates,nitrates and ethers have-been knownrfordecades ithas also been known that: to utilize them in the various 1 hereinafter enumerated;

InDr-der thatfth'ose skilled v a better: understand my invention I woiild 'state, v V by 'way of illustration, that 'forithe manufacture of photographic film or. other. sheets my, new composition of matter may be compound V 7 'ed as follows: 100 parts ofaceton'e soluble V I i STEWART J. cAnnoLL',v 'on nocnns'rnnjnnw 32 31;, regimes TO EA'srr AN "komik COMPANY, .OF nocnnsrnnnnw roman GQRIPORATION'OF NEw;YoRxproduct. vAddition products for the same or similar purposes are also added to cellulose acetates, nitrates and ethers to prepare them for use in the other. plastic artsysuch as in the manufacture of lacquers, varnishes,;a-rtificial silk filaments, moulded compounds and the like. While the plasticizers or other ad dition agents heretofore discovered have had their utility In the art, the increasinguse to which cellulose derivativeshavebeen putand theinc'reasing, number of desirable proper ties required of' the cellulose derivative for I most purposes has made the discovery of, new

andeconomical plasticizers or other addition agents a matter 0f considerable importance to the art.

I have discovered that valuableproperties I compositions containing' cellulose' derivatives, such as celluloseace-tate, by adding acetone, Which will dissolve boththecellulose derivative and plasticizer'. q This plasticlzer 1s a solid at ordinary atmospheric temperature and has the structural 7 formula of i Undo-OZ, pH: I

It ll ticularly dlifiClllt to produce, or obtain upon the open market. The-particularly useful -.propertieswhich it induces in or contributes to a cellulos c composlti'on containing 1 it are cellulose-acetate i.e. cellulose acetatecontain from 36% to {12% .acetyl radical',-apprqx.

imately, is dissolved with stirring at atmospheric temperature in 300 to 500 parts, preferably 400 parts, by weight, of acetone. To this solution may be added from 10 to parts by weight, of methyl anisate, it being found preferable to employ approximately 10 partsthereof. lVithin the limits stated, the amount of plasticizer may be decreased or increased, depending upon whether it is desired to decrease or increase, respectively, the

properties which this plasticizer contributes to the finished product. The amount of solvent employed may also be decreased or increased, depending upon whether it'is desired to have a more or less freely flowing composition, respectively.

' A composition of matter prepared as above described may be deposited upon any suitable film forming surface to form a film or sheet, as is well known to those skilled in the art. A film so produced has permanently brilliant transparency and low inflammability,burnmg no more readily than ordinarilynewsprint. Such film is tough and flexible as shown by the fact that it will withstand many folds upon a modified Schopper fold-tester (commonly used for such purposes) without breaking and that even after being subjected for days to air maintained at a temperature of 65 C. the film still maintains flexibility, demonstrating that the film will withstand ordinary usage satisfactorily for many years, whereas a film formed from a mere solution of cellulose acetate in acetone or other similar solvent is brittle and fragile after being subjected to the same treatment for as little as thirty days or even a lesser time. The sum total of the above advantageous properties of a product produced from my new composition is considerably in excess of that of products produced with what have previously been re garded as the better plasticizers.

Other similar solvents (instead of acetone) which are compatible, with the cellulose acetate and my new plasticizer may also occur to those skilled in this art. In like manner this plasticizer may be compounded with other single organic esters of cellulose, such as cellulose propionate, butyrateand the like, or with mixed, organic and/or inorganic esters, such as cellulose aceto-stearate, aceto-malate. or cellulosenitroacetatc, or with the cellulose ethers, a suitable solvent whichwill dissolve both the cellulosic derivative and the plasticizer being employed.

The accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, clearly illusrates the particular advantages of employing my novel plasticizer in the plastic arts. In this drawing there are plotted lines or curves graphically depicting the properties of film produced from a composition containing cellulose acetate and this plasticizer. On the horizontal axis is indicated the various percentages of my plasticizer that may be employed with the cellulose derivatives, this percentage being given in parts added to the cellulose derivative rather than parts of the composition; for instance, 30 parts plasticizer added to 100 parts cellulose acetate is denoted as 30% plasticizer added. On the verical axis at (a), on the left, is indicated in percentage over the check sample the initial flexibility of a film which has been formed as described from my novel composition and which has been subjected to air at 50 C. for 24 hours to free it of solvent; the rate of combustion of that film is also indicated by indicated the length of time in days that the film will maintain flexibility when subjected to air kept at a temperature of 65 C. The curve (A) depicts initial flexibility of the filn the curve (B) depicts the ability of the film to maintain flexibility and the curve (C) depicts the rate of combustion of the filmall with various percentages of my novel plasticizer and all as compared to therespective properties of a film produced from a solution of cellulose acetate in acetone and a hypothetical inert material substituted for the plasticizer as denoted by curve (D) in dicating unity of 100% and days for (a) and (b). It will thus be noted that my novel plasticizer has the faculty of giving, to a product produced therefrom, good initial flexibility and a low combustion rate, and that the product maintains its flexibility quite well. The preferred percentage of my plasticizer which it is desirable to employ to contribute any particular property to the final product will be obvious from an in spection of this drawing; the best percentage to employ will depend upon which property it is desired to feature most in the final product.

' Inasmuch as my above described composition of'matter is quite useful in the production of films and sheets it will be apparent that my new plasticizer may also be employed 'witl'i advantage in the other branches of the plastic art. For instance, my above described co'mposition'of matter may-be ein- 'plo'yed in the manufacture of artificial silk by the dry spinning method. With the proper coagulating bath it may also be employed for wet spinning. 7 It may be desired to employ a composition of different viscosity or evaporation characteristics but this is a mere matter of changing the solvent proportion or adding evaporation retardants such as triacetin or other high or intermediate boiling constituents, as has been well known in the art for more than a decade. My novel plasticizer may also be employed with advantage in connection with a number of the known lacquer and varnish formulae with which it may be found to be compatible. In such cases the plasticizer is usually first put into solution with the cellulose derivative this same column (a) at (b) on the right is solution and if'non-solvents are added the purpose of cheapening the composition they are added only to such an extentas will not precipitate the derivative from solution.- Other uses within the scope of my invention will also suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. a c -c 7 What I claim as myinvention, and desire to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States, is: v 1. A composition of matter comprising a cellulose derivative and methyl anisate.

2A composition of matter comprising cellulose acetate and methyl anisate. I

3. A composition of matter comprisin 100 parts cellulose acetate and from 10 to 5 parts, by Weight, of methyl, anisate.

4. A composition of mattercomprising 100 parts of cellulose acetate and approximately 7 10 arts, by weight, of methyl anisate.

V igned at Rochester, New York this 27th day of August, 1929.

STEWART J. CARROLL. 

